Snow in India
by Eternity Locket
Summary: Fantasy AU. Soma unexpectedly gains a new servant: a genie, who is determined to give him everything he could ask for. Unfortunately, Soma has some rather strange - and impossible - requests in mind. Meanwhile, his maid Mina lives in hope of her own wish being granted...
1. The Prince

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters. They belong to Yana Toboso. This story is inspired by a segment from Yana Toboso's Book of Murder Side Story, and is based on the Middle Eastern folk tale Aladdin.**

**Author's Note: Hello, I hope you will enjoy this story! Sorry, I know I have other stories in need of an update, and I will update them. This term has been busy with studying and deadlines, and when I find I do have time... I tend to have writer's block. In the meantime, I hope you like this too.**

**This story is dedicated to Robin Mask, a brilliant writer, thorough beta reader and amazing friend :) Meanwhile, many thanks to the beta reader of this story, Soren Shinigami.**

* * *

Once, in India, there was a young prince who had everything except what he truly wanted.

He had riches of the kind that the commoner would be lucky to set eyes on. Hunger was never an issue for him. His social status saved his neck on many an occasion. However, while from the outset he appeared to have everything one could desire, from the inside, he was not at all happy.

When he was younger, he craved attention, but seldom received it. His father was a stern, busy man, too self-orientated and focused on his role as the Raja of Bengal to care for any of his children, let alone his twenty-sixth child, the family pest. The Raja's solution to giving the boy 'attention' was to give him a young nursemaid to look after him and have done with it. Meanwhile, the boy's mother craved the Raja's attention just as desperately, fruitlessly vying for his heart. She too didn't have time for her son, for to her, it was not possible to give the attention he wished for when she herself received so little.

The prince grew up resenting how little time his parents spared him, but at the same time, he kept trying to gain their attention. He tried everything: being good, being funny, being naughty… at one point, being naughty became his overriding quality, because this gained the most attention. When he reached his teenaged years, however, his desires shifted: he wanted affection now. Unfortunately, this was a dream that was even less likely to come true. He wasn't noticed unless he acted out, but no one warmed to him when he did.

The unfortunate truth prevailed: no one that he loved could love him back. By the time he reached his late teens, he had started to wonder if there was any chance of this changing...

* * *

The young prince glanced round the pillar he hid behind. He smiled as he spotted his target. Mina, his maid, knelt by a pail of water, wringing a cloth. She eyed her reflection critically in the pail. The prince wondered what imperfection she could possibly see. Mina was perfect in every way.

He crept up behind her, suppressing his laughter at how he had come ridiculously close to her without her being aware. Just as she placed her rag down, his arms encircled her from behind.

"Good morning, Mina!"

Mina shrieked as the prince lifted her off the ground and spun her around. He laughed as she flailed her arms and legs in a manner far from her usual composure. Then with his usual grace he stumbled back into the pail, lost his balance and brought her down on top of him. She scrambled out of his arms like an annoyed tiger cub.

"Prince Soma, for crying out loud!" Mina indignantly dusted off her arms as she looked down at the spilled pail.

"Sorry!" Soma said with a sheepish grin. He sprang to his feet to embrace her. "I was just so excited to see you!"

"Right. Lovely."

The prince pulled her close to him and rubbed his cheek on her head, with the enthusiasm of a deer sharpening his antlers on a tree.

"How are you today?"

"Fine – yes, okay, _thank you!" _Mina manoeuvred her way free of him. She pushed aside a stray lock of her dark hair. "Personal space, alright? You don't have to pick me up to greet me, as I've told you before."

"Aw, but it's fun!" Soma winked. "You're tiny and I can sweep you off your feet easily!"

"Can you now?" Mina muttered. Soma pretended to ignore her and flexed his muscles.

"I may not be as tall as some of my brothers, but I'm getting strong, don't you think? Soon I'll need a really powerful sparring partner to practice on. Where do you think I could find one?"

"I don't know, Highness, but _please _don't practice on me in the meantime!" Mina knelt down to pick up the knocked over pail. She looked up at him with a pained smile. "Us servants have few enough rights as it is. Just… please at least leave me the right to stand on my feet."

Soma nodded.

"Sorry Mina, I didn't know you were bothered by it. In future, feel free to let me know if you're bothered by anything else I do either."

A look Soma didn't recognise crossed Mina's face, but it was replaced by a smile a moment later.

"I'm not sure I can do that, Highness, but it's a nice consideration." She stood up. "Anything else, Prince? I have a lot of work to do today. Like any other day," she added quietly.

Soma beamed.

"Yes! I have a present for you – it's of my own making!"

"Please tell me it isn't going to be like your poem. The one where you spelt my name M-E-A-N-E-R."

"This is much better!" Soma insisted. "Besides, I was only a kid when I wrote that. How did it even go?"

"I think it's burned on my mind eternally: _'To the beautiful Meaner'_ – beautiful spelt B-Y-O-O-T-Y-F-U-L..."

"Like I said, I wrote that a long time ago!" said Soma, turning a little pink.

"_'You are the bestest cleaner,_'" Mina recited. "How did the rest go? Oh, I remember:

_'Why are you called Meaner?_

_Because you are really nice._

_Like my favourite spice'_ –"

"I've improved my artistic skills immensely since then!"

"I haven't even got to the bit where you asked me for my hand in marriage," Mina mused. "I had to consult the other maids to find a nice way of phrasing that love doesn't actually know no boundaries."

"Right," Soma smiled weakly. His bravado returned to him as he remembered the evidence of his artistic improvement. "Yes, my gift for you! Prepare yourself for…" He pulled a rolled-up piece of paper from out of his sleeve and unrolled it dramatically. "This!"

Mina took the piece of paper from him and frowned.

"Er… who is it supposed to be?"

Soma blinked.

"You, of course. Can't you tell it's you? I think I drew you very well."

"My eyes are looking in two different directions and – wait, why have you drawn me _naked_?"

"What?" Soma looked over her shoulder. "Have I?"

Mina eyed him disapprovingly.

"Prince Soma, you _know _about how I feel about being sketched nude! _I don't like it. _You must draw me clothed, or not at all. I wish you would respect my wishes -"

"No, I honestly wasn't trying to…" Soma couldn't stop himself from laughing when Mina pointed at the lack of sleeves on 'her'. "I was drawing your face, and didn't pay much attention to the clothes." He held up his palms when Mina sighed. "You may add clothes if you wish."

"Thank you." Mina looked around. The pair were alone. She cupped a hand to her ear.

"What's that I hear? It sounds like your family is calling you."

"Hmm?" Soma frowned. "I don't hear anything."

"I can. Yes, it's your mother – she's calling you. You had better head off to see her." She steered him to the direction of the palace hall. "Off you go now."

"Oh, okay…" He turned his head to grin at her. "You'll play with me later, Mina. I won't let you spend the whole day cleaning again. My most beautiful servant needs to be let out into the sunshine once in a while."

"Yes, because here in Bengal we are all left quite short of sunshine." Mina giggled and gave him a push. "Go!"

Soma's smile remained fixed in place until he turned the corner, where he let out a sigh. He had to assume Mina was mishearing things, because there was no chance that his mother was calling for him. Still, he figured it couldn't hurt to find her and perhaps catch a conversation with her if he got a chance.

The prince walked barefoot across the hot sandy ground of the vast palace courtyard. Over in a roped-off area, two of his elder half-brothers were sparring one of the male servants. He watched for a moment in amusement; the servant was thrashing his brothers single-handedly. Soma scratched his neck as he thought about how many servants his brothers had. He hadn't felt the need to hire a new one, up until his realisation that he needed his own sparring partner – for sadly, his brothers were not inclined to share their servants. The only personal servant he had was Mina.

Yet Mina was enough for him.

His spirits lifted as he thought of his maid. Yes, she would play with him later. Mina, his salvation from loneliness. He walked on, smiling dreamily to himself. How lucky he was to have such a kind and patient handmaiden. She was beyond beautiful too – dainty, doe-eyed, with such a lovely face. She turned heads at the palace, but fortunately for the prince, she worked only for him.

Attention and affection from Mina, Soma decided to himself, was worth far more than anything else the palace had to offer. There was just one problem: while he was confident that Mina loved him, he wasn't sure that Mina loved him in the way _he _loved _her._ It did not help that he was younger than her by quite a few years, or that he was a prince that she waited on, or that he sometimes annoyed her. The fact that she had watched him grow up, and as a result possibly saw him for the child he was, perhaps didn't help either.

He paced into the palace hall. To his surprise, his father came storming down the stairs. Soma raised his eyebrows. He hadn't glimpsed his father in at least two weeks. He was always in business meetings.

"Father -?" The Raja held up his palm to signal, 'not right now.' Soma's mouth tightened with dejection as his father strode past him. "As usual," he muttered.

The sound of sobbing attracted his attention. He followed it up the stairs. Realising it was his mother crying, he broke into a run. He crashed through the beaded curtain to her room.

"Mother, are you alright?!" he demanded.

His mother – a youthful woman, far younger than his father – shook her head and kept her face buried in her hands. Soma jumped down next to her and laid a hand on her arm.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

His mother dragged her sleeve across her face. When she met her son's gaze, Soma could see her red face.

"Did you get into a fight with Father? He looked very cross a second ago."

"Your father is taking a… a trip to England," his mother choked in response. "And he's not… he's not taking me with him."

Soma felt a chill brush down his neck, despite the smouldering day. He didn't understand the significance, but judging by his mother's misery, this was not good news.

"I don't understand what that means," he said meekly.

His mother didn't answer. Instead, she hung her head and whispered some unintelligible words. Soma tried to remember what his court tutors had taught him about England.

"Is it because of the 'snow' that we don't get here? Would you like to see it, Mother? Is that why you're upset?"

"Please, my son… you mean well, but you're not helping."

"It seems awfully mean of Father to not take you with him. He could easily afford to -"

"Soma, _please_!"

"…Okay." Soma sighed. He clenched a fist as he was struck by determination. "One day, I'll show you snow, you wait and see." His mother shot him an exasperated look.

"How about you go and play with your maid?" she suggested, as if he was seven rather than seventeen. "Keep yourself occupied."

"She just directed me here, but I'll leave now."

"Thank you."

Soma trailed down the stairs. He wondered if his father was secretly an amazing person, as surely he had some virtues for his mother to want his attention so badly. What these virtues could be was anyone's guess. All Soma knew was that he couldn't make up for the lost company to his mother. This thought caused him to trip on the last step and land on his knees. He got back to his feet and looked around. No one had seen him. The palace hall was empty as usual.

He wondered what he should do for the rest of the morning. Mina had directed him to his mother and his mother had redirected him to Mina. He decided to take his mother's words as an invitation to pester Mina and hurried back to where he had left her.

Mina had vanished – presumably to move on to clean another area. Soma was about to search for her when he trod on a piece of paper. He knelt, turned it over and saw Mina's sketched face smiling up at him. He figured she had accidentally left it behind and rolled it back up his sleeve. Still, he suspected that she hadn't liked his present as much as he thought she would.

The prince wandered towards the palace gates. Perhaps he could start his search for that sparring partner he wanted.


	2. The Genie

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters. They belong to Yana Toboso.**

* * *

The market was eerily quiet by the time Soma had reached the town centre, despite it only being midday. The prince looked around, puzzled over where everyone had gone. Usually the town centre was lined with brightly coloured tents and bustling crowds, with frantic shoppers and traders who relentlessly pursued the attention of onlookers. Today there were relatively few.

Had he been there, his eldest brother would probably have joked that nearly the entire town had somehow anticipated Soma's arrival and chosen that particular day to clear off. Soma didn't know whether to laugh or feel defensive at all the 'nobody likes you' jokes directed his way. It was true, no one at the palace spent time with him for very long…

He dismissed this idea with a shrug and skipped along with a smile. The usual social rules, whatever they were, didn't apply to him, for he was a prince and this meant everyone wanted to get closer to him. He stopped an elderly woman to ask where the townsfolk were hiding.

"Where the traders are, you ask?" The woman looked around before beckoning him closer. "They won't be out today. Not when there is an auction going on in the underground cave."

"You mean the one they call The Buried Cove?" Soma tilted his head, confused. He tried to remember what his father had said about the law on auctions. "Is it an unauthorised auction? Father says that authorised auctions are to be held in the marketplace on a stage above ground."

"Shh!" the woman hushed him. "It is their only chance to sell certain acquired goods! They are selling many unique riches in the cave. They are rumoured to be previously in the possession of a notorious pirate. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, if you have the money. And looking at you, you do look well-off, sir, if I may say so."

"I'm not interested in any riches they might be selling, especially not pirated goods," Soma said dismissively. "I am the Raja's twenty-sixth child after all."

"You're…" The old woman's jaw dropped. She quickly gave an awkward curtsey. "Highness, it is a pleasure to meet you. Fancy, a prince crossing my path!"

Soma smiled for a moment, before he remembered the problem at hand. He folded his arms and tried his best to imitate his father's authoritative voice.

"Unauthorised auctions are not allowed. I will have to alert the authorities."

"But sire, they are auctioning such wondrous things! Things a young man like yourself would be awed by! They say they are even selling a _magic lamp._"

Soma raised his eyebrows, interested.

"Magic? What does it do?"

"You will have to go to The Buried Cove to find out."

The woman put her hands on his shoulders and turned him in the direction of the cave. He felt her hand brush his hip as she released him. Soma gave in to his curiosity and headed in the direction she pointed him to, unaware that he had just been pickpocketed.

The cave was hidden away on the outskirts of town. Soma had only visited the cave once, when he was much younger and hadn't yet heard the story of the demons who dwelled deep underground inside of the cave. These demons had apparently eaten many an annoying younger brother… though now he was older, Soma was starting to think there was something a bit off about that story. Today, the mouth of the cave was curtained off by a black cloth, vast enough to be used as the sail of a pirate ship. A shudder crept down his spine. He took a gulp of breath and pulled back the cloth to enter the tunnel of the cave. Pirates or not, if they were breaking the law, he had to stop them.

Once he had climbed down the rocky downward tunnel of the cave, Soma could see his new company. The ground was crowded with people, most of them wearing scarves or turbans around their heads, which made them hard to identify from where he stood. No one seemed to notice him slip among the crowd; they were too busy whispering among themselves. A sudden pounding of a drum silenced them. Soma looked up to see, on the highest rock, two men, who wore expensive but well-worn clothing. They did not look to be of Indian ancestry, though it was hard to tell through their facial hair.

"And now, everyone, prepare to place your bids on what is possibly our finest treasure! This is the one you have all been waiting for, I'm sure."

An excited buzz of murmuring echoed around the cave. The man on the right of the makeshift stage reached into a brown sack and, with a hand gesture like a magician conjuring a spell, unveiled what looked like an unusual-looking teapot. Soma blinked.

"This is the magic lamp?" he whispered to himself.

It didn't look like much. The lamp, whilst pretty, looked to be old, yet not old enough to be antique and made of brass. The auctioneers couldn't have thought it was much either, as they were now tossing it to each other and trying to catch it with one hand.

"We know what you're all thinking. What is the big deal about a rusty old lamp? Well, it's not the lamp which is the interesting part. It is the _magical properties_ of the lamp."

Soma folded his arms. Nothing stuck out as a lie to him more than the phrase 'magical properties'. He could attest to this from the fact that the last time he had heard the phrase was when he was told that wishing for something, whilst throwing a coin into a water fountain backwards, granted the wish, because of the magical properties of the fountain. Needless to say, Mina had not kissed him that day. That still didn't stop him from tossing a coin into the fountain every now and again, but that was beside the point.

"This lamp," continued the trader, "is home to a trapped spirit, who is bound to grant the wishes of its master. This creature will serve as your finest slave. It will follow your every command and use its magic powers to grant the impossible!"

The prince's chin perked up hopefully at these words, for a moment gazing up in awe at the lamp. This awe was soon replaced by queasiness, as an irrational part of him thought that if he were the creature in the lamp, he would be getting awfully dizzy from being tossed about like that; back and forth between two people, not able to settle with either of them, set to be given away for the highest price…

This gave him the final prompt to stand up and grant the bidders and dealers bitter disappointment.

"Stop this now!" he called out. Everyone turned round in puzzlement whilst he pushed through the crowd, towards the auctioneers. "This is an illegal auction that hasn't been authorised by the Raja of Bengal or his council!"

The look that the men on the 'stage' shot him made him want to back away, but he pressed through to join them on their level.

"Moreover, if there really is some kind of… _thing _inside there, should you really be handling it so thoughtlessly? Not to mention auctioning something with magic powers will lead to very bad karma!"

He tried to grab the lamp from the stunned auctioneer's hands. The bearded man growled indignantly and tried to wrestle it back, only to send it flying out of both of their hands and onto the ground. Soma jumped off the rock to retrieve it.

"Who even are you, brat?" snarled the auctioneer.

The lamp was coated in dust from falling on the ground. Soma polished it with his sleeve as he spoke.

"I'm the twenty-sixth child of the Raja of Bengal, Prince Soma Asman Kadar. And yes, I am authorised to call off your auction and have you charged for dubious dealings."

The men looked at each other, then faced the prince again with a pair of dark grins.

"A prince, you say?" The man closest to Soma cracked his knuckles. "I wonder… how much will your papa be willing to forfeit to us to get you back?"

"Probably nothing," Soma protested, as he tried to think of anything he could say to prevent being kidnapped by pirates. A second later, he realised that what he said was likely unfortunately true.

"Well, in that case…"

The grin twisted at the corner of the man's mouth. In that moment, he seized the seventeen-year-old around the middle.

"Who wants to take home a prince? Starting the bidding at one hundred…"

Soma struggled against him, pedalling his legs in an attempt to land a backwards kick. The bearded man was much larger and stronger than himself, however, and soon his struggling became futile. When he opened his mouth to cry out for help, his captor's accomplice covered his mouth with his hand. The man withdrew this hand a moment later, clutching it in his other.

"Careful, he _bites._"

This was met by some laughter. Half the crowd jeered and rowdily placed higher bets. The other half watched uncertainly, perhaps wondering if this was a joke, or thinking about bad karma. One thing Soma knew from their faces: it looked like no one was going to help him.

"Three hundred… three hundred and fifty… oh, four hundred from you, sir? Can anyone top four hundred?"

Soma closed his eyes and made a wish for someone to magically step in and save him.

"Five hundred!"

Then, for the first time, his wish came true.

Shouts of bewilderment filled the cave, as the lamp in Soma's hand shook and steamed bright blue smoke from its spout. It slipped from his grasp. All remaining lights in the cave dimmed. The auctioneer dropped the prince in alarm. Soma stumbled back and landed on the rock surface. He pushed himself up onto his palms and looked up in a confused daze.

What could only be a spirit stared back at him. He blinked at Soma with wide eyes.

Soma could guess this expression matched his own; an expression of not quite believing the other was there in front of him. The spirit rose from the open lid of the lamp. He wasn't human, but he bore far more resemblance to one than any other creature. Soma could only stare whilst the spirit swam through the air towards him. This mysterious being had the form of a young man, not a lot older than Soma himself, with long white hair that flowed behind him, as if he were underwater instead of on land. He had not an item of clothing on him, though beyond his torso, his body tapered out into a loose tail, the end of which was still embedded in the lamp.

"Master," the spirit whispered, whilst he pressed his palms together as if to pray.

Soma raised his eyebrows. If this being was now calling him his master, the prince must have inadvertently claimed ownership of the lamp. The spirit continued to watch him, in wait of an answer. Soma didn't know what to say.

"…Hey," he got out eventually.

"You wanted to stop them from selling me at auction. And now, you wish to stop them from selling you at auction," the spirit confirmed.

He had started matter-of-factly, but before he reached the end of his second sentence, his eyes shone as if they were about to spill over with tears. Soma watched him curiously. He hadn't thought much of what kind of personality a lamp-dwelling spirit would have, but he hadn't thought that one would be so… emotional, on first meeting.

"Such a good heart. I am humbled," the spirit continued in a trembling murmur. Then he unexpectedly raised his voice to a deep shout that nearly made Soma jump out of his skin. "Master, your wish is my command! I shall bring you to safety, then begin granting everything you'd like from me!"

The spirit turned to the surrounding crowd, who were gasping shock. He twisted on his tail further to face the auctioneers. The man who held Soma earlier pointed a shaking finger at the supernatural being.

"You're not real!" he shrieked. "You can't be real! We made you up to gain a higher profit from the lamp!"

The spirit glided nearer the frightened men. From the angle at which he hovered, Soma could not tell what sort of expression the spirit wore, but judging by their company's faces, it was not one to mock.

"Don't come any closer!" yelped the bearded man.

"I'm afraid I may only take orders from my master," the spirit stated, which prompted the pair to back away further.

"Stop! What even are you?" whimpered the second pirate.

The spirit narrowed his eyes before extending his right hand out in front of him, the base of his palm directed towards the back wall of the cave.

"I am the genie of the lamp," he declared. "And now, I shall wield my right hand for my new master."

With a ripple of his arm, blue light projected from his hand and formed a dome around everyone in the cave. Soma gaped at the light and reached out to touch it. His fingers could not penetrate the walls of the dome. He turned back to the genie, who maintained a look of absolute concentration, whilst his fingertips curled against his palm. More light emitted from his hand and spread to make the dome brighter, bolder, stronger, until the walls began to spread out towards the roof of the cave. The genie kept his arm steady whilst he carefully drifted back towards the prince.

"Master, please hold onto the lamp. In a moment, we shall make our departure."

Soma reached out and grabbed the handle of the lamp. The genie's spare hand closed around his new master's wrist. With one final thrust of his arm, the dome erupted and smashed through the cave walls. Shards of rock fell in slow motion around the crowd. The sudden reappearance of daylight made Soma squint. Before he could see the shocked faces of the auction gathering, however, he felt himself being lifted into the air.

He was suspended from a higher height than he had ever looked down from, yet with one hand enclosed around the lamp and the genie holding onto him, he didn't fear the fall. Soon, he was towed a safe distance from the destroyed cave and lowered back to the ground, to the edge of a deserted riverbank.

The genie released his hold on the prince's wrist. Soma's eyes adjusted to the sunlight and focused on his new companion, still half-expecting him to fade away and for reality to return.

"Master," the genie said tentatively. "I heard your name as 'Soma Asman Kadar'. Is that right, sir?"

"Oh… yes." Soma grinned. "_Prince_ Soma Asman Kadar. And I had set out today in search of a sparring partner who can double as a servant."

The genie listened to him attentively. It seemed that he was completely serious about considering the prince his master. Soma considered him for a while. It was a big surprise to suddenly acquire this magical servant… but it was a happy surprise.

This genie seemed to be somehow just as awed by Soma as the prince was by him. That felt supernatural in itself.

"You seem quite powerful," Soma mused. "If I am now your master, that shall be your job!"

A slow smile came to the genie's face.

"Then I will serve you with all my power… my prince."


End file.
